They say at the moment when death is imminent there is a sort of calm that comes over the mind, that is liberating and can be described as uninhibeted freedom.

One has to wonder how enraged Flames fans were tonight, even though the outcome was expected. What would be even more interesting is how it long it took those same fans to experience that numbness, or that wave of liberation as to what exactly is left for this team and where exactly they are going.

Justin titled the FGD: Choose Your Own Path, and I suspect he was making more reference to the fanbase than the team itself. The Flames seem stuck in a path that they can no longer determine, they no longer have that freedom, rather they are on the wild run... kind of like a runaway train?

If you're still reading this, then let's see how it all played out...

The Rundown

I don't think anyone should have been surprised that the Flames came out in this one looking extremely tentative tonight. For the first half of the period, they seemed to be afraid to take any chances in fear that it might cost them on the scoreboard.

Instead, they would play it safe, trying to make the perfect pass which in turn cost them valuable scoring chances because they held the puck far too long. They were fortunate to get their first scoring chance just 17 seconds into the game and then wouldn't see another for ten minutes.

A pretty low event period that almost got interesting when Bouwmeester walked into a slap shot from the blueline, that didn't quite find its way into the net. Almost though.. almost.

When you don't make things happen, things happen against you; and tonight would be no different. At 16:56, Jared Boll (*sigh*) would wire that sniper like slap shot that he is oh so known for, over the shoulder of a helpless Miikka Kiprusoff. In his defense though, he probably wasn't expecting TJ Brodie to cough up the puck in front of him, or for his teammates to sit and watch as, yes, Jared Boll put the Jackets up 1-0.

The Flames edged Columbus 3-2 in scoring chances, but in fairness both of the Jackets chances were higher in quality than any of Calgary's. Calgary went 65% in the faceoff circle and still got out-shot 9-7, but that's what happens when you are tentative and are looking for the "perfect" play all the time.

Not sure what was said in the dressing room during the intermission, or who did the talking, but someone needed to respond in the second period.

When you need someone to answer the bell, you rarely have to look past Curtis Glencross. Undoubtedly, Calgary's best line once again to the reins of leadership with Stempniak doing the majority of the work and Glenx doing what #Scorface does best... pumping up that shooting percentage.

For the next 11 minutes, the Flames would bask in the glow that was their tying feat. And then reality would have them come crashing down harder than Jared Boll running Kiprusoff for the third time of the night.

Over the course of a a minute and fifteen seconds, starting at the 13:05 mark, Columbus would put three consecutively passed Kipper, stomping on the hearts and most likely any hope that was held by any Flames fan out there.

The start of the third wasn't pretty as the team came out looking like they were short-handed. Let's face it the team's play at even strength has seemed short-handed at the best of times. If the 3 goals in 1:15 wasn't enough, Kipprusoff looked absolutely shell-shocked after the opening five minutes.

It would take nothing short of a Herculean feat to dig themselves out of this one. Since the Hockey Gods are clearly not behind the Flames, there would be no Herculean anything....

I took an intermission of my own until I was snapped back to consciousness when Colton Gillies extended the deficit to four. At this point, the clock couldn't run out fast enough....

Why the Flames Lost...

I'm not sure how many different ways we can go over this. Night after night, game after game, it's the same old song and dance.

Red Warrior

Tonight I am proud to say we are bringing back the "Red Warrior". It's just too bad that for the second night in a row., no one really deserves it.

However, given that we are bringing back the warrior honours, I can't let it debut with no one.

So I'm going with Curtis Glencross tonight. He got the Flames only goal and has been the one guy on this team that has much of anything left to offer.

Now unlike an earlier misconception that was blatantly taken out of context on twitter earlier today, I am not saying that anyone on this team doesn't care or isn't just as troubled about the losses piling up faster than PETA can protest the latest videogame. What I am saying is that night in and night out, Curtis has come to play for this team.

For the past month.. hell, for the past 4 years, fans have taken their turns at throwing pot-shots at various players on the team; from Iginla right down to Kiprusoff. The one name I can honestly say I've never seen thrown around when it comes to effort, is Glencross.

For that reason, and twitter be damned... Tonight's Red Warrior is Curtis Glencross.

Scoring Chances

Flames chances:

BJs chances:

Scoring Chance Summary

Team

Period

Time

Note

Home

Away

State

Away

1

19:27

Iginla shot

10

16

22

7

51

72

10

24

12

5

26

34

5v5

Away

1

10:07

Bouwmeester one-timer

42

13

11

7

51

72

18

22

20

4

7

34

5v5

Home

1

6:37

Anisimov slot

42

13

11

7

51

72

18

15

22

5

26

34

5v5

Home

1

3:04

Boll goal

42

13

11

6

47

72

13

17

40

5

26

34

5v5

Away

1

0:17

Cervenka shot (PP)

18

13

6

33

72

10

20

40

4

7

34

4v5

Home

2

19:14

Johnson shot

18

19

71

7

51

72

10

24

12

4

26

34

5v5

Away

2

15:37

Glencross goal

9

24

13

6

47

72

18

22

20

4

7

34

5v5

Away

2

14:16

Cammalleri slot

18

19

71

20

33

72

13

17

40

5

26

34

5v5

Away

2

14:08

Iginla in close

18

19

71

20

33

72

12

13

40

4

7

34

5v5

Away

2

12:16

Cammalleri shot

9

24

40

7

51

72

13

17

40

5

26

34

5v5

Home

2

11:45

scramble

42

13

11

20

33

72

18

22

20

4

7

34

5v5

Home

2

9:13

slot shot

10

16

22

6

47

72

13

17

40

5

26

34

5v5

Away

2

7:24

Begin post

9

24

40

6

47

72

15

16

25

6

27

34

5v5

Home

2

6:55

Foligno goal

18

19

71

7

51

72

13

17

40

5

26

34

5v5

Home

2

6:05

Foligno slot goal

18

19

71

7

51

72

13

17

40

5

26

34

5v5

Home

2

5:41

Anisimov goal

42

13

11

20

33

72

18

22

20

4

7

34

5v5

Home

2

3:44

Johnson high slot (PP)

16

18

71

7

51

72

20

40

4

5

34

5v4

Away

2

1:08

Cervenka in close

9

24

40

6

47

72

10

24

12

4

7

34

5v5

Home

3

19:16

Brassard (PP)

16

18

71

7

51

72

18

22

4

26

34

5v4

Home

3

17:02

Atkinson in close

10

13

11

7

51

72

10

24

12

4

26

34

5v5

Away

3

16:00

Cammalleri high slot

9

24

40

6

47

72

13

17

40

5

7

34

5v5

Away

3

9:14

Cervenka slot

18

19

71

20

33

72

10

24

12

4

7

34

5v5

Home

3

8:33

Calvert drive

42

13

11

6

47

72

18

22

20

4

7

34

5v5

Home

3

6:46

Gillies goal

10

16

22

20

33

72

13

17

40

4

7

34

5v5

Away

3

4:37

Jackman drive

9

24

40

6

47

72

15

16

25

6

27

34

5v5

Home

3

1:56

Johnson shot

18

19

71

7

51

72

15

16

25

7

26

34

5v5

Away

3

1:13

Wideman (PP)

10

42

7

51

72

10

24

12

5

26

34

4v5

Blue Jackets Player Summary

#

Player

EV

PP

SH

6

NIKITIN, NIKITA

17:33

3

5

02:18

0

0

00:56

0

1

7

JOHNSON, JACK

14:40

6

3

05:53

2

0

02:26

0

1

9

GILLIES, COLTON

12:00

0

6

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

10

LETESTU, MARK

15:29

3

1

00:11

0

0

02:06

0

1

11

CALVERT, MATT

11:01

6

1

00:00

0

0

00:16

0

0

13

ATKINSON, CAM

11:25

6

2

00:01

0

0

00:44

0

1

16

BRASSARD, DERICK

12:06

2

1

04:45

2

0

00:00

0

0

18

UMBERGER, RJ

12:38

4

3

04:31

2

0

00:44

0

1

19

JOHANSEN, RYAN

12:49

4

3

03:22

0

0

00:12

0

0

20

ERIXON, TIM

15:51

3

3

01:55

0

0

00:00

0

0

22

PROSPAL, VINNY

13:03

2

1

03:29

0

0

00:00

0

0

24

MACKENZIE, DEREK

12:19

0

6

00:00

0

0

00:42

0

0

33

AUCOIN, ADRIAN

17:53

3

3

00:00

0

0

00:50

0

1

40

BOLL, JARED

11:34

0

5

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

42

ANISIMOV, ARTEM

08:48

5

1

02:53

0

0

02:00

0

1

47

PROUT, DALTON

17:25

3

5

00:17

0

0

00:06

0

0

51

TYUTIN, FEDOR

13:54

6

3

05:37

2

0

02:26

0

1

71

FOLIGNO, NICK

12:42

4

3

04:48

2

0

00:00

0

0

72

BOBROVSKY, SERGEI

12

11

2

0

0

2

Flames Scoring Summary

#

Player

EV

PP

SH

4

BOUWMEESTER, JAY

16:37

5

6

00:58

1

0

06:18

0

2

5

GIORDANO, MARK

18:49

4

5

02:13

1

0

04:34

0

1

6

SARICH, CORY

12:19

2

0

00:00

0

0

00:43

0

0

7

BRODIE, TJ

16:00

6

5

01:09

1

0

01:33

0

0

10

CERVENKA, ROMAN

14:51

3

2

02:21

2

0

00:00

0

0

12

IGINLA, JAROME

14:45

4

2

02:13

1

0

00:00

0

0

13

CAMMALLERI, MIKE

13:51

4

5

01:01

0

0

00:00

0

0

15

JACKMAN, TIM

08:37

2

2

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

16

MCGRATTAN, BRIAN

08:44

2

1

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

17

COMEAU, BLAKE

13:50

3

5

00:19

0

0

02:06

0

0

18

STAJAN, MATT

11:51

2

4

00:00

0

0

02:47

0

1

20

GLENCROSS, CURTIS

10:21

2

3

00:50

1

0

03:22

0

1

22

STEMPNIAK, LEE

12:03

2

4

00:00

0

0

02:40

0

1

24

HUDLER, JIRI

15:07

3

2

02:13

1

0

00:00

0

0

25

BEGIN, STEVE

07:50

2

1

00:00

0

0

01:51

0

0

26

WIDEMAN, DENNIS

20:35

3

8

02:24

1

0

02:52

0

1

27

SMITH, DEREK

13:17

2

0

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

34

KIPRUSOFF, MIIKKA

11

12

2

0

0

2

40

TANGUAY, ALEX

13:46

4

5

01:09

1

0

03:14

0

1

Blue Jackets Period Summary Scoring Chances

Period

Totals

EV

PP

5v3 PP

SH

5v3 SH

1

2

3

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

2

7

6

6

6

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

5

4

4

3

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

Flames Period Summary Scoring Chances

Period

Totals

EV

PP

5v3 PP

SH

5v3 SH

1

3

2

2

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

6

7

6

6

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

3

4

5

3

4

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

Sum It Up

I'm going to keep this one short tonight. Here is the hard facts of reality.

The biggest thing that plagues this organization is probably the hardest slap in it's face. This team just isn't good. It's not that it's not as good as they thought, they just aren't good... period.

When the Flames are fortunate to catch a tired team that is is forced to play their back-ups on the second night of back-to-backs, they still have to be at their best and have a mistake free night to maybe pull out the "big win". However if the Calgary Flames are unfortunate enough to face a team, any team, that has it together and is on their game, then they just don't have a chance.

That might be tough to hear, but I'm sure it's even tougher for the boys to come to realize. But like I said before once the wildness of that realization comes to pass, there will be that relief, that calmness, that freedom to finally focus on what they need to do.

It's not going to be a fun plane ride home, but at least they are going home. There is no doubt now, that for Murray, Ken and Jay.. it's decision time.

Flames next opponent will be the St. Louis Blues on Sunday at 6:00 pm. Catch the game on SNET-W and the Fan 960.

Vintage Flame is a Calgary based sports junkie that prefers to call hockey a "religion" rather than an addiction. He believes there are two types of hockey fans. Those who cheer for the Flames, and those who don't understand the sport yet. Follow Vintage_Flame on Twitter

The time is now. Iginla, Kiprusoff, Tanguay, Cammalleri, See what we can get for bums like Butler and Smith, demote or release MacBackup and bring up Danny Taylor. When Iginla was on the bench during the 2nd and they were down 4-1 after the 75 second barrage, Iginla was smiling and talking to Glencross, 5 seconds later he was seated beside Jackman and the smile was erased. For the good GM, changes would have and should have already been made, but for this organization, it is will be more pain and frustration, and, no moves, it is well past the point of any shakeups. I can't even get angry anymore because these results are expected.

I hope but fear I don't see them doing anything of consequence. I just have no faith in this team doing what is right and necessary and will blame injuries or some redundant excuse to not make changes. Honestly Iggy needs to go regardless of return for his sake and the Flames. Nothing can happen until he moves on.

Boy, it wasn't long ago that all we heard was "intellectual honesty" seems everyone has long forgotten that statement .... time to bring it back. There is absolutely no hope for this team ..... career the rest of the season and we squeeze into 8th ..... who wants a team like that ..... burn it to the ground, the time has clearly come.

Elliot Friedman in an interview on 1260 today speculated that the trade negotiations for Iginla have begun, but that all parties involved are doing their best to keep things quiet.

----

So then, here is the $64,000 question - do fans believe that the Flames can have one bad year, draft high, and then rebound like the Senators, Flyers and Canadiens?

Or, do some believe that the team is lacking in virtually every category of core player and that the only way to address these issues are by committing to an organizational overhaul?

My two cents? If Feaster or King in their interviews or conversations with fans start to bring up the prospect of a quick rebound, call them on it, because they are grossly incorrect.

Depending on who goes and the return, yea, I believe they can rebound. The west is more difficult to contend in so it will be harder than OTT & PHI, IMO. I think that there is enough vets still and leadership if Iggy goes. A bit of luck and some savvy moves, we can at least battle for 8th still. At least it should be with a younger group with some hope for the future.

I am an Oilers fan. Just sayin'
The Flames could conceivably catch the Oilers and dominate the league in less than 5 years if they hold a fire sale.They will draft in the top 3 this year-FACT. They have th assets to acquire 4 more first round picks if they move Camm, Iggy,Kipper and JayBo. Probably a couple 2nd rounders as well as a few good prospects. Maybe they can turn 1 into a Jonathan Bernier, who knows?
Point is, they will be terrible next year too, but good golly that could be a good chunk of their core put together in just over a year. Scary.Glad it wont happen.

Enough is enough! Flames management need to trade Iginla immediately because this whole speculation media circus is undoubtably affecting the whole team. The other pieces can be traded closer to the trade deadline, with Jerome, they cant afford to wait that long. Cmon King, we all know the decision has already been made. Get it done. Get the list of the teams(Iginla has provided already) GMs on the phone on the way home, all night, tomorrow morning & until this gets done. Get the bidding war going & just take the best offer you can. & if some of the twitter out of Boston is true & there is Hamilton + a 1st on the table, for Gods sake take it!!!!

Enough is enough! Flames management need to trade Iginla immediately because this whole speculation media circus is undoubtably affecting the whole team. The other pieces can be traded closer to the trade deadline, with Jerome, they cant afford to wait that long. Cmon King, we all know the decision has already been made. Get it done. Get the list of the teams(Iginla has provided already) GMs on the phone on the way home, all night, tomorrow morning & until this gets done. Get the bidding war going & just take the best offer you can. & if some of the twitter out of Boston is true & there is Hamilton + a 1st on the table, for Gods sake take it!!!!

Who's twitter? I have been lobbying for Hamilton for weeks but I never would believe that BOS would put him up. I did hear that Chiarelli said Subban and Spooner would not be traded. No mention of Hamilton.

This is what it is. We've all seen it coming and hoped it wouldn't, but it has, alas, the team sucks.
Burn it to the ground? Maybe, but you have to be careful what you wish for.
The Flames will draft who they draft, (check out 2003) sign who they sign or trade who they trade, like it or not. We have no say in that.So what can we do?Seasons tickets holders: Complain, non renew

Enough is enough! Flames management need to trade Iginla immediately because this whole speculation media circus is undoubtably affecting the whole team. The other pieces can be traded closer to the trade deadline, with Jerome, they cant afford to wait that long. Cmon King, we all know the decision has already been made. Get it done. Get the list of the teams(Iginla has provided already) GMs on the phone on the way home, all night, tomorrow morning & until this gets done. Get the bidding war going & just take the best offer you can. & if some of the twitter out of Boston is true & there is Hamilton + a 1st on the table, for Gods sake take it!!!!

ken will resign jarome, hartley will be fired is most likely what will happen. no other explanation to the captain laughin while the jackets are bitch slappin ya.

This is what it is. We've all seen it coming and hoped it wouldn't, but it has, alas, the team sucks.
Burn it to the ground? Maybe, but you have to be careful what you wish for.
The Flames will draft who they draft, (check out 2003) sign who they sign or trade who they trade, like it or not. We have no say in that.So what can we do?Seasons tickets holders: Complain, non renew

I don't get it. obviously we gotta torch things up abit. burn iginla, bowmeister, kipper, and basically everyone who will fetch anything. but you guys want picks? seriously? why we can't draft for $hit, why bother drafting anyone? at least with prospects, our poor drafting is not called into play. we can develope the talent and see where it goes. ima not saying we're much at developing talent but ima sure its better than drafting. another thing we gotta dump king, sure he's a good guy but i don't think he can do whuts necessary to put the team back in contention. look where we're at. and another thing.... fister should go too, i mean seriously this guy talks of intellectual honesty? he's pretty much drove this club off a cliff with his BS. when he got hired i'm pretty sure he sold them on ' oh i won't have to rebuild it, i can make some small changes and we can remain competitive.' YUP we're competitive alright.
/rant

Hey Iggy...if you wanted to demand a trade you could have just asked...rather than choosing to just not show up for the past 10 games! Thanks for the great seasons....er...I mean season...that was a great ONE playoff run you brought! #goodriddance #overrated

Hey Iggy...if you wanted to demand a trade you could have just asked...rather than choosing to just not show up for the past 10 games! Thanks for the great seasons....er...I mean season...that was a great ONE playoff run you brought! #goodriddance #overrated

I know I shouldn't be shocked. I understand and accept where this team is..hell, it's been teetering on the edge for a long, looong time now. Sigh. I guess what I have an issue with is just how divided the fanbase seems to be right now.

I believe that Murray Edwards is the real problem, he and Ken King are so in love with Iginla that they refuse to do the right thing for the long term and dont care because the rink is full every game anyhow so why should they care? Although you would think that they would like the revenue some playoff games would bring. Feaster is nothing but a puppet for Edwards and King. Since the Flames messed up the O'Reilly deal Feaster has not made 1 media availability, talk about lack of guts. God this organization is so messed up, it is so embarrassing. I cannot believe how so many of this teams veteran, supposedly "star" players are putting out zero effort. Unbelieveable that they have so little pride. Absolutely disgusting. I think that Brent Sutter told Edwards and King the truth about how this team needed big time player movement to compete moving forward and they would not listen to him and now look where they are. You can see Hartley knows where the problems are as well.

It still amazes me that we are at this point AGAIN.Late last season when they were on the edge of possible 8th they imploded and lost to 3 non playoff teams. It was over. Fast forward to this year. It is over! If Edwards and King really are, and have been pulling the strings, its time they jumped off their egos and let a GM make smart(not emotional) hockey decisions.......PLEASE !!!

Once again my primary Playoffs watching incentive will be too see anyone knock off the Vancouver Cannots ! It not even close to the joy of walking the red mile ( wistfully remembers) after a Flames playoff win , but it's something......

^ agreed the flames looked bad over the o'reilly offer. and I mean bad, like the 8th grader still wearing diapers bad. But if Colorado would of known the rule, they would of got the word out and not had to worry about offer sheets. I was personally hoping o'reilly would of sat all year and have his entire career ruined! I hate greedy self obsessed players like him

King got rid of Keenan and the Sutters and we are actually worse. Can FN put together an Article on ownership and mainly King digging under the surface to expose the root cause of this organizations struggles? I understand it may take big Oliver "Stones" to do. However history shows us that change often does not happen until the revolution dictates it. Let's lobby for the replacement of King.

They have been exposed this season for having extremely poor goaltending and a severe lack of NHL centers.

What assets do you see them bringing in this off-season to offset those deficiencies to the extent that they could climb overtop of the seven or eight teams currently ahead of them in the standings?

Ottawa had Spezza, Alfredsson, Karlsson, Anderson and a host of other prospects upon which to draw for their quick rebound. The Flyers had a group of forwards like Carter, Richards, Giroux, and a solid defensive corps to dress.

As Kent has said before, the Flames need everything. I don't see how they could possibly go back to a playoff borderline team in a single season given the obstacles ahead of them and the kinds of purchases that are required.

I will be very interested to see what Feaster does (if he is still around) this summer. This was his roster that bottomed out, does he have the competence to fix his own mistakes?

I know I shouldn't be shocked. I understand and accept where this team is..hell, it's been teetering on the edge for a long, looong time now. Sigh. I guess what I have an issue with is just how divided the fanbase seems to be right now.

Deadline day can't come soon enough. Put up or shut up Feaster.

Deadline day is already here, it's just that Feaster, Edwards and King are asleep at the wheel, at the expense of the fans and the team.

Elliot Friedman in an interview on 1260 today speculated that the trade negotiations for Iginla have begun, but that all parties involved are doing their best to keep things quiet.

----

So then, here is the $64,000 question - do fans believe that the Flames can have one bad year, draft high, and then rebound like the Senators, Flyers and Canadiens?

Or, do some believe that the team is lacking in virtually every category of core player and that the only way to address these issues are by committing to an organizational overhaul?

My two cents? If Feaster or King in their interviews or conversations with fans start to bring up the prospect of a quick rebound, call them on it, because they are grossly incorrect.

I agree. A quick rebuild is out of the question.

The Senators rebuilt and were able to keep some talented guys like Spezza and Alfreddson. They also had way more top level prospects coming up at the time Cowan, Silfverberg, Lehner, Karlsson, Wiercioch, Zach Smith etc.

That Flyers team still had Gagne, Pitkanen, Carter, Richards. They didn't have a ton of prospects apart from Giroux and Downie but a bounce back season was probably expected.

I think the Canadiens are a slightly better comparison because they had questionable prospect depth like the Flames. But their young core was so much stronger with Pacioretty, Subban, Price, Plekanec etc.

As a big time Flames fan living abroad, I've got few statements to make:

(1) I'm admittedly a little surprised the Flames have played so bad this year. I thought the team would still be battling for ninth or tenth place.

(2) I'm very glad that the Flames have finally hit skid road, particularly in shortened season.

(3) I'm glad Kipper got injured and has not been playing lights out. But he has certainly not been the key reason for Flames poor performance. Imagine if he stoled 4/5 games for the Flames, that would be a much worse outcome.

(4) I'm really looking forward to the next couple weeks as finally ownership will finally have to make some real hockey decisions. I'll be shocked if the Flames stand pat.
(4) I'm ecstatic the Flames will have a top 5 pick in the upcoming draft.

(5) I knew Feaster made a huge mistake handing over Montreal a second round pick in the Cammalleri/Bourque trade. That pick is essentially as good as a late first rounder, for what its worth.

A lot of weird feelings about last night. On the one hand I hate seeing the team I have loved since they moved here hit this low. It's really a scary dejavu of the young guns era. Now that was bad hockey & just no hope in sight. The dollar was bad, economy rough & I had to maintain my Season Tickets to a crap product to do my part so we still had a hockey team. The dollar & economy dictated the downfall of this team. 2004 was like being dipped in holy water. The dollar has been good, the Alberta economy rock solid, no worries about a hockey franchise in Canada. The downfall has been we blindly followed management who gave us that spiritual spring right back to the burning pits of Hades. The pillars of that hope for the last almost 10 years are no more. It's a sad feeling to see the end of an era that started so good. On the other hand I'm excited, we saw where this path was going for awhile and now I have to agree, this whole Iginla saga is now tiresome and is having an impact on the whole team. Its wrong on so many levels, its wrong management dont work out a deal to move him sooner than later, its wrong to put 1 player above the team & if the decision is Iggy's & we are waiting for his "decision", Iggy for the love of Mike what are you waiting for. Move on & go win your Cup. It certainly wont be here next year & the window for the next 3 years is closed tight. That takes you to about the end of your career. My only excitement falls in the hope that everyone does the right thing & the fact the Cap has given the NHL as much parity as you could possibly hope for. Spending wisely and good hockey moves can shorten the time of suffering quicker than ever. We dont have to have that hopeless feeling of the young gun era. Now we must move on & find a new spring of holy water.

If Kent is still reading through this post, an idea for a future article. A lot has been made of the Flames woes because of poor drafting and not drafting enough. I'm curious if this holds true in that if we held onto all those draft picks we traded/lost what would those draft picks become(plus or minus 10 picks or so, like who could we have drafted in the the 10 picks above or below where we should have drafted) and would those draft picks become NHLers?

Like if we held onto all the players we drafted or signed as Free agents, we could have Fowler, Phanuef, Giordano and Brodie on D right now.

Well put! The one difference this time from the Young Guns Era is that Ownership has shown the willingness and ability to spend money. Hopefully this indicates they want to win (but seemingly don't know how). I pray we see a change in direction. This will not be a one year bounce back IMO, but if good decisions are made the hockey will be competitive and exciting sooner than later. All moves need to be made with the future in mind and improving the lineup even if takes three years before it comes together as a competitive team, put pieces in place that give it a chance to become a contender. Continuing to spin our wheels has taken us through this slow decline and a sad end to an era. Time to embrace the future!

That's a real tough assignment. Looking at all players available at the #14 pick in 2012, how could you possibly predict who the Flames would have taken, had they actually made that pick? Some players that they may have taken will turn out great, others will not be NHLers. Perhaps, they would have taken Janko even at 14th. What if Janko had been taken at #20 by PHI? Who would the Flames have then taken 21st? Same deal with past draft picks, there are always some players that fall through the cracks, and occasionally you land one (eg. Theo, G Suter, maybe Gaudreau). Looking back at what you could have had is just asking for a lot of pain.

Father time has found Kipper. Will reality find King and Edwards ? If the Jerome for Bernier rumours are true......get it done !

It is true, Kipper is slower in his reaction time, due to the lingering effects of the knee injury as well as his age. On one of the goals in the Nashville game, Kiprusoff barely stuck out his glove, and the puck was already by him. A few years back, he would have been battling for position and that puck would be in his glove. As for King and Edwards finding reality, Nope, and the Jarome for Bernier deal, Hell Yeah!

If Kent is still reading through this post, an idea for a future article. A lot has been made of the Flames woes because of poor drafting and not drafting enough. I'm curious if this holds true in that if we held onto all those draft picks we traded/lost what would those draft picks become(plus or minus 10 picks or so, like who could we have drafted in the the 10 picks above or below where we should have drafted) and would those draft picks become NHLers?

Like if we held onto all the players we drafted or signed as Free agents, we could have Fowler, Phanuef, Giordano and Brodie on D right now.

I agree, I'd like to read that if it were offered.

Also, I'd like to see some analysis on where the flames would be right now if they had even average goaltending this season. Still not great I'm sure, but I gotta think there'd be 3-5 more wins and we'd be in a playoff spot. Still want to see Iggy set free, but I don't think this team is as terrible as it looks and I wouldn't go nuclear on the rebuild. Yet.

One player that ticks me off to no end is Tanguay! He sulks like a little kid when were losing! Cannot stand it! How would it be to have a player like Sakic or yzerman or messier that dig deeper when the teams sucking it up. We have a group that sulks like little children. Can you imagine making millions to play a fun game and sulking like tanguay and Gio do? It's disgusting! Unreal to me he has that tanguay got a five year contract! Don't even get me started on cervenka! This is the biggest pile of garbage we've signed since tanguay! Soft, uninspired and useless! Does this guy not want another nhl contract? Oh yeah jay will give him one anyways! Ok, moving to Cammi... What the he££ has happened to this guy? He's only 30 and I was stoked when we got him back! I believed Darryl was wrong in letting him go, especially after he was so good in the eastern finals with the Habs! He is non-existent. To be fair , his game is based on iggys big-time. Probably the biggest thing that is mind-blowing to me is that jay brings back siutters crap. Dies jay not want to put his stamp on this club without the "sutter" oozing out of every move he makes? The first thing he should have done was cut loose Sutter past. Instead he re-ups tanguay goes after cammi, and gives babchuck a rediculous contract. Any other team and his can is fired! The sad thing is that so many fans are drinking ken kings koolaide still and they know that tickets will sell weather it's the current sad sack of turd or not! Lets face it people, even if we blow this up we get zero return!

The Iggy for Bernier rumors are not true. Who do you think has been carrying the kings this season?? Oh and trading the face of your franchise doesn't happen overnight. You don't ever take the first offer you get. The trade deadline isn't here yet so relax people. More likely to get a better return closer to the deadline with more bidders. If nothing happens when the deadline passes then you can all bitch and moan how stupid and useless the management team is. Till then calm the frick down!!